Hi I've never properly built a rig from scratch before, just replaced simple parts. However I've been putting off a new build for ages. I'm looking to put together a machine for computer programming and gaming with a budget of ~£600 (excluding Scansure). I don't intend to overclock at all. Any help would be much appreciated. What I have already: Monitor O/S Antec 300 case Enough DDR3 RAM DVD drive HDD What I need: CPU CPU Cooler Mobo GPU PSU Maybe an SSD (always wanted one) Scansure (probably a good idea for £20 on my first build) What I've thrown together by looking at scan... I'm not sure about any of it really as I'm no expert. http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/e178c3058a2c4fec9ef8df5334dcce5b Total: £623.70 inc VAT
All sensible choices, but do remember to check Today Only prices, some or all of those parts will be on there through the course of the week. Also, don't discount the GTX 660 as an alternative to your chosen GPU. I believe both support OpenCL, but nvidia also has CUDA, which as a programmer you might find an interesting diversion.
Thanks. I'll take a look at CUDA and see if it takes my fancy. A couple of those were from the Today Only page... knocked of like £2 total I think. Is there anything there that I've missed, or I've listed that isn't compatible? Also do I need to buy thermal paste or does it come with the CPU/Cooler, and if so which should I buy?
If you don't want to overclock, why not use a locked processor, H77 mobo, and lose the aftermarket cooler. Save yourself £50 odd, to put towards better graphics. You'd be totally safe with 500w power supply, as well.
Non OC'able CPU was something I looked at. However the 3570 isnt in stock on scan and the savings for me would only be approximately £15 for the CPU and mobo, as I keep my case in a not so ventilated place at the moment and thus likely still require a better than stock cooler. Was the 500W was a comment that applies to both 3570/H77 & 3570k/Z77.
500w would be more than adequate, either way. It may, actually be better to look at something in the 520w to 560w range, not because you need it (tho' it doesn't hurt to have a BIT in hand), but more a case of there being several good quality choices in that bracket. 500w always seems to be a bit of a "bare patch" in terms of top quality, on a lot of sites.
So something like this? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-be-quiet-bn091-system-power-s6-80-plus-atx-psu not much in terms of price difference between this and the 600W corsair i mentioned
It's always difficult to actually work out the clearance/clash. Best policy is to always use low profile RAM, with aftermarket coolers. Simply removes the POTENTIAL problem. Crucial Ballistic Sport, GSKill Ares, or Corsair have got low profile versions.
I'd rather avoid buying more RAM to do the job. Also I'm not sure if there is enough head room in the case for a big tower cooler. Maybe I should be looking for a smaller tower cooler or a small one of similar design to stock. Any good recommendations?
Well for one thing you will be fine with the stock cooler if you don't overclock, at least most of the time. Even if your case isn't too ventilated And thermal paste comes with coolers normally Also Ram won't clash with your cooler USUALLY if you don't use the closes RAM slot. So with two sticks you would be fine IMO
As for the GPU issue - I would go for the AMD card. It has better support for OpenCL, but is also much faster in parallel applications and in general better for 'computing' than any Nvidia card. A powerful CPU is not required for programming as such. More power is always better, of course, but aim for high GHz not cores (unless you are into parallel programming) for the quick compiling.
